


Sunshine

by sky_blue_hightops



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brother Feels, Brothers, Drug Addiction, Gen, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Light Angst, Overdosing, Pre-Canon, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 05:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18046343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_blue_hightops/pseuds/sky_blue_hightops
Summary: Prompt: "You don't understand, do you? You've never understood!"***Klaus and Diego have a talk. Pre-canon.





	Sunshine

His breaths puffed in the cold air around him, his fingers gripping the concrete step below him as hard as they could.

The back door creaked open behind him, then shut gently. Wordlessly, Diego say heavily next to him. Their shoulders almost brushed, but Diego didn't lean in and Klaus knew how important his boundaries were.

"...I'm sorry."

The words hung in the morning air. Klaus's fingers twitched. Diego cast a quick glance down as they did, an unreadable expression crossing his face.

He really was sorry; or, he thought he would be sorry if he could remember what had happened last night. Bright flashes of ambulance lights, of hospital doors, of the elastic band of a breathing mask - these were all normal Friday night post-rehab memories. Then, somehow, Diego had gotten involved. He had woken to someone's hand warm around his own and someone's snores filling his otherwise-silent section of the ER bay.

He had been checked out with only the barest of words exchanged between the brothers. Diego hadn't made eye contact once. The drive home had been  _torture_.

"Does this happen a lot?" Diego's voice was rough, but it didn't waver. Klaus shifted next to him, considered pressing closer against the chill ( _needed_ to, needed to have something grounding, needed to know the body next to him was still  _alive_ , needed needed  _needed_ -)

"Yeah." He had so many things he wanted to say, from the stupid stuff like the last time he had eaten (two days ago) to the serious stuff like how often he wished he could just  _stop_ (constantly).

He said none of them. "Every time I leave rehab."

Diego nodded, not replying, just digesting. Comprehending. Trying to wrap his head around how much time his brother spent almost-dying. Funny, wasn't it? He had grown up with one foot in the world of the living, and the other in the world of the dead. It just made sense that he should spend his adult life like that, too. He made the spiritual ghosts disappear when he was high as a kite, but his addictions followed him better than any vengeful, rotting corpse ever could.

"When will you get enough?"

"What?"

"When will it be enough, Klaus?" Diego finally turned to make eye contact, eyes ablaze. "First alcohol. Then drugs. Now you're hopping from rehab to rehab,  _killing_ yourself! Do you even know the last time you slept in your own  _bed_?"

"I don't have a bed," Klaus muttered, but it was the wrong thing to say. Diego stood in a flash, rounding on his brother.

"Do you know how many crime scenes I've seen of dumb,  _stupid_ kids like you dead because the last time just _wasn't enough_? Do you know how many times I've pulled back tarps, hoping and praying for dear life it isn't your face underneath?" He cursed, rolling his shoulders against the cold. "You don't understand, do you? You've never understood! I care about you. That includes wanting to keep you safe. Wanting you to not have to live on the  _streets_ , Klaus. I don't want to have to watch you tear yourself apart to stay sane."

"Maybe you should tell that to the ghosts," Klaus replied. "They sure don't listen to me begging for them to leave me alone. Maybe they'll listen to my big,  _tough_ brother who thinks he knows exactly what I'm going through!" He let bitterness fill his words. "Have you seen a ghost before, Diego?"

"No. I've seen the bodies they leave behind." Diego crouched in front of him. "Don't become a ghost, Klaus. You don't have to agree to get clean, not now. Just..." He sniffed, whether from the cold or something else Klaus didn't know. He didn't want to know. "...promise me. Promise me you'll stop taking so much. You'll call me if you need me. I've got a couch, you know. You're always welcome."

Klaus took the hand thrust in front of his face, pulling himself up and about to brush himself off when Diego kept a firm grip on his hand and tugged him all the way in for a hug. Klaus tensed, just for a second, before melting into the hold and hiding his face in the space between Diego's neck and shoulder. A hand ruffled his hair, the other solidly between his shoulder blades. "...I promise," he whispered, words muffled by Diego's jacket. "...sorry."

Diego let out a wet laugh. "Stop saying sorry, I know." They stayed like that, quiet, seeking comfort from each other, before pulling away after a few minutes. "We good?"

Klaus let a grin stretch across his face. "There's this waffle place down the blockkk..."

"Ugh, fine. You're paying next time."

Yeah. They were good.


End file.
